Media undercounts US death toll in Iraq

This is nothing new for those of us here, but it's nice to see the media's top industry publication taking note:

Any way you look at it, the news is bad enough. According to Thursday's press and television reports, 33 U.S. soldiers have now died in combat since President Bush declared an end to the major fighting in the war on May 2. This, of course, is a tragedy for the men killed and their families, and a problem for the White House.

But actually the numbers are much worse -- and rarely reported by the media.

According to official military records, the number of U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq since May 2 is actually 85. This includes a staggering number of non-combat deaths. Even if killed in a non-hostile action, these soldiers are no less dead, their families no less aggrieved. And it's safe to say that nearly all of these people would still be alive if they were still back in the States.

Let's file that under "no shit".

The article makes good mention of the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count website, which is a treasure. No one else is similarly tracking the human toll of Bush's folly.

For the record, the war has cost us 276 US and UK soldiers. Including 94 since Bush declared "mission accomplished".

Posted July 22, 2003 04:29 PM